I took the detour from Expatexchange, because I like La Clusaz. But I stayed because of your perspective and writing style.

Maybe you’ve already covered La Clusaz winter tourism in a previous post, but if not, I think it would be a tremendous service. I visited once on a ski trip in 2006 and fell in love with the village. But we had such a hard time finding a decent rental, ended up paying through the nose, 1300 euro to sleep 6 and the owners were kind enough to clear out the place so we only had a half role of toilet paper, no salt & pepper or any kinds of the conveniences that you might expect from an apt vs. hotel room. Cheapskates! When we’ve rented cabins in Lake Tahoe, the owners left everything, including condiments, washing powder and even a working phone line.

Anyway, if you have any suggestions for your readers (namely me) they’d be very appreciated. Thanks, Joe

Just to answer Joe’s questions:
1. Mon amie (my friend) is feminine or mon pote (my mate) can be used for either sex (I think).
2. Yes, there will be lots of winter blog entries when winter returns. I will add a link for some chalets of businesses I trust here in La Clusaz. The French do holiday rentals very differently to the Brits and others, and what you got is very typical of the French way. Thanks for reading – and for the compliment on my writing!

I stumbled upon your blog and absolutely fell in love with it. First off, the graphic of the french cow is just too cute. Did you design it yourself?

I spent a year living in Paris (2005) while I was studying at the Sorbonne and I also lived in Annecy for a summer in 2002. Your blog makes me long to pick everything up and move back to the Alps. I’m lucky enough to write about France for a living, but it’s a little torturous sometimes spending my day (and my energy) writing about a place I’d love to return to.

Julie, thanks for getting in touch. I hope my blog doesn’t make you to home-sick (so to speak – it does have a homely feel around these parts). Oh, and yes, I did the cow myself! I hope you enjoy the upcoming posts too – I’ve got some interesting ones planned.

Hi April,
Lovely written and visual landscaping you’ve done there! Bravo!
Reading through takes me back quite a few years when I began to live in France myself – the agony (as in the Carte Vitale episode) and the ecstasy (as in waking up to a new adventure each day).
Look forward to reading your first novel,
Sophie

Just so you don’t worry too much aboout the Carte Vitale, it took nearly 10 weeks from sending off our form to the things finally arriving a couple of months ago. The system is pretty slow but it does grind on, so don’t give up hope.

Hi april,
j’ai aimé tous son contenu et vos photos. greetings from montréal, quebec. i just stumbled upon your blog couple days ago, the words australian living in france kinda caught my attention. i am from brisbane, my wife and i are kinda planning to move to montréal. we have been living here for the past 7 months learning french and adjusting to life here. i kinda guess from the comments from this page that you are looking to get your novel published. awesome. i just saw another blog site recently called pollyvous français. you might wanna check it out if you haven’t heard of it http://www.newsplex.com/blogoftheweek/headlines/62868562.html. might give you some ideas of possibly publishing your blog too?. anyways..cheerio and keep up the great work 🙂

Hi Dedene, thanks for the encouragement and I’m glad you’ve found my blog interesting. Melbourne, my home town, has very little snow too.

Beng, what a lovely message – thank you! I’ve seen the pollyvous francçais blog, although I’ve no plans to publish my blog as anything but its current form. I’ve been meaning to start looking for an agent for the past six months, but work and travel have been in the way. The search will no doubt start as soon as the snow stops falling and the sun melts it again.

Hello Wendy,
I am American and a Francophile. Love your blog!! I have studied and worked in France and Spain (only for up to 5 months at a time, alas). Recently, I dragged my 2 children (9 and 11) and husband for 4 months to Provence (we were able to arrange to telecommute for that time). Even though the culture shock (and language barrier) was hard for them, we enjoyed it and I wish I could return. Luckily, through your blog and pictures, I am able to “visit” your part of France and relive some of my experiences. We love France and will return again and again, I’m sure….funds allowing! Thanks for the wonderful and witty stories. They are great! Leslie from Virginia

Leslie, thank you so much for your kind words and for getting in touch. Knowing that there are regular readers out there really spurs me on to keep writing. Four months is just long enough to get hooked on France, I reckon. I hope you find a way of returning soon. Until then, I hope my blog will fill the gap.

Hi April
Great site and greetings from “Rosbif et les Froggies” my Anglo-French accoustic band over here in the Massif des Bauges. Let me know if you need any guitar lessons next time I’m up in La Clusaz
a bientot
Max – Chanteur/Guitarist

Hi Wendy, I discovered your blog through the Snow-forecast website and have really enjoyed reading it over the last few months.Our first introduction to the Aravis was when we stayed in St Jean de Sixt and we have recently bought a house in Petit Bornand, just down the road from you. Your blog is great for keeping us in touch with the area as we can only visit during holidays at the moment although moving out full time next year. Thanks again, looking forward to finding out more about our future home through your blogs.

Thanks Beverley, and I hope you find more useful info in my upcoming blog topics. It’s a great area to live in when you eventually move out full time. The reduced shopping hours caught me out a few times though (and still do)!

Hello Wendy… I do like your blog on La Clusaz. You have a great writing style. My wife and I reside on the Col de Merdassier for several weeks in the year. Having visited the area for some 20 years, I am familiar with many of places you mention in your blog, and agree with many of your observations, if not all! I look forward to your further writings …

Hi Richard, and thank you for your kind words of encouragement. Nothing entertaining has been happening lately, so the Defi Foly should provide some decent content for me to waffle on about. Fingers crossed the predicted bad weather is incorrect this year.